Insider: Colts' Chris Ballard breaks down film on picks from NFL Draft

Insiders Stephen Holder and Zak Keefer wrap up the final day of the Colts draft.
Clark Wade/IndyStar

Chris Ballard, General Manager of the Indianapolis Colts, talks with the press at the day's NFL Scouting Combine, in preparation for the year's draft, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018.(Photo: Robert Scheer/IndyStar)

INDIANAPOLIS – The draft was over, the job complete, and now it finally was time for Chris Ballard to take a load off.

The Indianapolis Colts’ general manager walks into the team’s war room wearing … flip flops.

But he’s earned the right to relax. He and his scouting staff have been grinding for months, starting with 17 consecutive days of 12-hour meetings in February during which they reviewed film of and debated hundreds of prospects in intimate detail.

It’s over now, though, and it’s time to reflect. And Ballard is ready to do just that. For more than two hours this week, Ballard brought a handful of reporters into the team’s draft room – the place is off limits to most everyone, evidenced by the key code required to open the door – for a debrief of the just-completed draft.

Ballard wanted to explain why the team made its choices. He also wanted to show why it made those choices. Here, then, are five takeaways from a rare film session with Ballard:

The footage came from Notre Dame’s pro day in March. Players are asked to perform some odd tasks by NFL scouts, and this is one of those instances. Nelson was asked to do free-standing squats. A side profile showed him placing his rear end below his knee level – remember, he’s a guard who weighs 325 pounds – while keeping his lower legs mostly straight. This is an insanely difficult task for a man of his size.

He then was shown, in a seated position with his legs extended, touching his toes the way a gymnast might during warmups. His upper torso extended so far it was, essentially, parallel with the ground.

“God made him a little bit different than He made everybody else,” Ballard said in bewilderment.

Ballard also cued up Nelson’s traditional workouts from the pro day, pointing out the rarity of his athleticism along the way. He later showed a portion of Nelson’s performance in a game against Georgia, with NFL talent across the line of scrimmage, because it was, according to Ballard, Nelson’s “signature game.”

Everything Ballard said indicated other remaining players on the Colts’ board at No. 6, including Roquan Smith, ranked well below Nelson. The selection of Nelson was, Ballard said, “the easiest pick I’ve ever been a part of.”

But Ballard was thrown a curveball with this question: What if pass rusher Bradley Chubb had not been chosen one pick earlier by the Denver Broncos?

“There would have been a discussion,” Ballard said. “But (Nelson’s) ceiling is higher.”

One of Leonard’s most notable performances was a game against quarterback Deshaun Watson and Clemson in his junior season (2016). Clemson is “all speed,” as Ballard said. But as Ballard turned on the film of the game, it was easy to see Leonard fit right in against one of the most talented programs in the country.

Ballard emphasized Leonard’s ability to play in coverage. He showed one play where Leonard closed in at lightning speed to take down a running back in the flat. On another play, Ballard gleefully showed Leonard shed a block from an oncoming offensive guard, sidestep him and make a tackle at the line of scrimmage.

If there’s one player Ballard is excited about, it’s second-round choice Kemoko Turay.

He first saw the Rutgers product at the Senior Bowl in January, and what he saw left a lasting image. Ballard pulled up film of the practices in the days prior to the game, then proceeded to break down a series of pass-rush moves from Turay. The edge rusher displayed an impressive spin move and excellent change of direction that left a couple of drafted offensive tackles in his wake. Ballard was also enthralled with Turay’s pro day, during which he showed great athleticism and did it while nursing a sore hamstring.

There are questions about Turay’s production at Rutgers. He registered 7.5 sacks as a freshman and had a total of seven in his remaining three seasons. Some of that was due to shoulder injuries, but how do the Colts explain his three sacks as a senior, when he played 12 games?

CLOSE

The Indianapolis Colts take DE Kemoko Turay with the 52nd pick.
Clark Wade/IndyStar

Ballard said it was a product of Rutgers’ defensive system and what Turay was specifically asked to do. As a 3-4 edge player, he often was required to drop into pass coverage. He also was rushing from a two-point stance, which Ballard believes is suboptimal.

Look for the Colts to put Turay in prime position to succeed, playing out of a three-point stance, possibly as a designated pass rusher (mostly on third downs).

The Colts took Auburn guard Braden Smith in the second round, and Ballard offered some context on the pick.

He said Smith was the last starting-level guard on the Colts’ board when they took him at 37th overall. After Smith, Ballard said, “there was a pretty big dropoff.”

But Ballard also conceded that Smith is not nearly as polished as Nelson. He’s going to have to be coached up on some technical aspects. One such aspect was easily seen on tape once Ballard pointed it out.

Smith’s hand placement at the point of attack will need to improve at the NFL level. It didn’t get him into trouble in college because he was a vastly superior talent. But he has a tendency to get too wide with his arms, which wastes motion before he engages the defensive lineman. That split second, Ballard said, will create problems in the pros. But it’s something the Colts believe can be fixed with pro-level coaching and because Smith is a coachable player.

But make no mistake, the Colts believe this guy is a player. Smith will be a very good pulling guard, they believe, because of his athleticism and body control. In that regard, he has some Nelson’s traits (though Nelson is clearly the superior athlete). Because of this, it likely will be tempting for the Colts to use a lot of zone runs this season, though Ballard said they will also utilize traditional gap plays, too. Zone running plays can take more advantage of athletic lineman like Nelson and Smith and might be a good fit with the quick running backs the Colts have.

>> T.J. Green update

Ballard also talked about some returning players. One intriguing conversation centered on safety T.J. Green, a 2016 second-round pick who has yet to find a consistent role.

The Colts are going to have Green stick at safety this season after a failed effort to move him to cornerback in 2017. That, by the way, was not former coach Chuck Pagano’s decision.

“That was a little bit of my fault,” Ballard said. “Don’t blame that on the coaches. Blame that on me. Right when I got here, I figured, ‘Let’s cut the field down for him.’ That was on me. And then he struggled in L.A. (in the season opener). He’s a safety.”

Ballard’s former team, the Chiefs, planted the thought in Ballard’s mind.

“In Kansas City, we wanted him as a corner,” he said. “He could do it, but he’s good (at safety). I thought at the end of the year, you saw some real flashes from him. T.J. was a one-year starter (in college). He’s only 23-years old.”